Mastermind of Pacific Hospital Scheme to Serve More Than Five Years

Michael D. Drobot will serve more than five years in federal prison and pay $500,000 in criminal fines for devising a scheme to pay at least $40 million in kickbacks to dozens of providers as part of a plot that federal prosecutors say generated $500 million in fraudulent bills. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton on Friday sentenced Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, to 63 months in prison. Two days earlier, she ordered him to forfeit $10 million in criminal proceeds derived from the kickback scheme and set a hearing for May 11 to determine the amount of re...